James Spencer Henry Edmond Marcel Thierrée (born 2 May 1974) is a Swiss-French circus performer, violinist, actor and director who is best known for his theatre performances which blend contemporary circus, mime, dance, and music. He is the son of circus performers

Victoria Chaplin Victoria Agnes Chaplin-Thierrée (born May 19, 1951) is a British-American circus performer. She is a daughter of film actor and comedian Charlie Chaplin from his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill, and a granddaughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill. Chap ...

and Jean-Baptiste Thierrée, the grandson of filmmaker

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

and the great-grandson of playwright

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

Biography

Thierrée made his stage debut aged four in 1978, appearing alongside his older sister, Aurélia Thierrée, at his parents' small circus, ''Le Cirque Imaginaire''. He toured with the circus and its follower, ''Le Cirque Invisible'', throughout his childhood and teenage years, until 1994. Due to this, he was taught by tutors up to the age of twelve, when he was enrolled at the American School of Paris. Later he studied at the Piccolo Teatro in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, the CNSAD and the Acting International in Paris, and the Harvard Theater School in the United States. In 1991, aged fifteen, he made his film debut in the role of Ariel in

Peter Greenaway Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a British film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Mannerist painting in particular. Common traits in his films a ...

's film '' Prospero's Books'', and has since appeared in several films. He was nominated for the

César Award for Most Promising Actor Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesar ...

in 2006 for his role in Antoine de Caunes's film ''Twice upon a Time'' (2006). In 1998 Thierrée founded his own theatre company, La Compagnie du Hanneton, and directed his first stage show, ''The Junebug Symphony'' (''La Symphonie du Hanneton''), in which he also performed. It toured several countries around the world and received favourable reviews from, for example, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. Thierrée won four Molière Awards for the show, including that of the best director and the best newcomer in 2006, and it was chosen in 2009 as one of the ten most important theatre pieces of the decade by ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

''. His next pieces, the ''Bright Abyss'' (2003, ''La Veillée des Abysses'') and ''Au Revoir Parapluie'' (2007) were similarly acclaimed, and he was awarded a Molière for the latter. In 2008 he also received Le Prix Plaisir du Théâtre from the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques. His fourth stage show, ''Raoul'' (2009) received more mixed reviews. Thierrée's fifth spectacle, titled ''Tabac Rouge'', is to premiere in Lausanne in the summer of 2013.

Ancestry

Stage productions

Theatre roles

La Compagnie du Hanneton

Filmography

References

External links

Official website of La Compagnie du Hanneton
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thierree, James Living people Best Supporting Actor César Award winners 1974 births French male film actors French male child actors French male stage actors French film directors French people of American descent French people of Bermudian descent French people of Irish descent French people of English descent Chaplin family Modern dancers Acrobats French circus performers Swiss circus performers French National Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni